3X Mixed: Chasing Who Runs Down Palomar in 24:36

• Chasing Who (Elizabeth Perez, Ray Sanchez & Daniel Shamburg) took the 3X Mixed title in 24:36:12, averaging 18:13/mi across 81 grueling miles.
• Three Blind Mice (Tess Gessler, Brian Lutz & Johnathon Munoz) finished 2nd in 25:37:20 — just over an hour back.
• Chasing Who posted the 4th-, 7th-, and 8th-fastest women's splits on the 50M–68M stretch, a segment where they clearly found another gear.
• Three Blind Mice owned the early miles, logging the 2nd-fastest women's split on the 14M–35M leg — but couldn't sustain that pace to the summit.

With only two teams completing the 3X Mixed field, the story here is less about a crowded leaderboard and more about what it takes to move three people together across 81 miles — from 234 feet below sea level up to Palomar Mountain's 5,500-foot summit, through desert heat and single-track trail — and still have something left in the tank past mile 50.

Chasing Who, anchored by 60-year-old Elizabeth Perez of Victoria, TX alongside Ray Sanchez (58) and Daniel Shamburg (45), ran a remarkably composed race. Their checkpoint progression tells a story of steady patience followed by a decisive late surge: after a mid-race dip in the standings, the team climbed back through the field on the back half, with their strongest relative effort arriving precisely on the 50M–68M stretch. That's where this race — with its punishing final climb — tends to break teams apart, and Chasing Who was accelerating.

Three Blind Mice (Tess Gessler, Brian Lutz & Johnathon Munoz) came out swinging. Gessler's 2nd-fastest women's split on the 14M–35M segment signals a team that moved with real purpose through Anza-Borrego. But the checkpoint data shows them sliding back through the field as the miles and elevation piled up, and they ultimately crossed in 25:37:20 — 1:01:08 behind the winners. In a race that climbs over 9,000 feet from below sea level to mountain summit, that fade is no disgrace. Finishing is the feat.